Sitting here, drinking my tea on a beautiful, southern Australian morning, I think I can finally answer her question.

I remember sitting in an English class back in High School. The teacher was asked how she became interested in English, and then went to college to teach it as a career.

She stopped the class to answer the question from one of her students. Then with great reverence she explained that when she was a little girl, her father would start each day by sitting down and reading the entire newspaper front to back. That simple daily act got her interested in English when she was growing up. Her father impressed her with his daily routine of always starting his morning reading the “entire” paper.

The movement towards smaller homes is underway in America. That doesn’t mean the McMansions are going to be torn down and people are going to move into camper vans. What I see happening is one more choice is going to be offered in the housing landscape.

This article in from the Washington Post shows a pilot project being conducted in the Washington D.C. area. As with any project, it has some appeal, and some drawbacks.

ISSUES

Living in a small space is difficult, it just means you have to be organized (hard!), clean, and keep your wants under control. A giant flat screen is not going to work, you’ll be too close to the screen. Cooking for twenty is not going to happen unless it is a summer barbecue.

This is a very modest space, that provides a high quality of life for a single person. Well, you could get a single person with a pet, preferably a fish. If you are into raising Great Danes, you may need to rethink your housing choice.

If nothing else, this is another American expression of our desire to be free and in control of our destinies. This is an ingrained cultural need. By providing a lower cost option, tastefully executed, this is proving to be a winner.

The negatives in my opinion are the price per square foot, zoning – the need to change the building codes, security, the unknowns on how to build a community of small homes, the inefficient use of the land.

If you need to take out a $50,000 loan to buy one of these domiciles, you are really paying for the lot in a high priced area.

The material costs are low, the labor rate would vary by region.

I do not agree with people doing the building onsite. This size structure should be factory built, to tight standards, saving on material waste, with higher efficiency in time, materials and labor. Then trucked to the site, craned into place, and the whole little community set up in under a week.

COMMUNITY

Have you ever driven down a suburb and noticed the inefficiency? As an engineer, it drives me nuts. Of course, I can’t say anything to the person in the passenger seat, they’ll think I should be committed.

Look at all those tiny little lawns. Then move to the two car garage and see it filled with a mower, trimmer, racks, shovels, etc. Over and over, each home buys the same tools. Then the owners use them two hours a week and puts them back. Totally inefficient use of space, time and money.

If you built a dedicated tiny home community, think of a trailer park, you would do a central lawn service, a central recreation area, a central kitchen for those big events to bring the community together. This may also ease the zoning issues.

For this community to work, you would need to be close to, or against a larger outdoor space. That would allow the owners to feel the open space flowing into the front of their homes. However, being close to an open space means higher land prices in any city.

A central community would also allow the materials used to move from lumber to concrete. A group of insulated concrete homes would be safer, quieter, and more efficient than a small stick built unit.

REALITY

One study I read years ago stated that people feel a sense of community when there are approximately six houses together. A dead end street with a turnaround is an example of a tight group. A set of flats facing a common courtyard would be another. Beyond that size, people get lost and lose the personal touch from interacting together.

This brings up a failure of the economics on this size home. The builders need to cut a standard lot up into four to six small tiny home lots, put in a shared shed for maintenance tools, outdoor lighting, etc.

Of course, in many cities, we already have that. These units are called apartments. They have been working pretty well for over a hundred years. The problem with them is the almost all are two bedroom units and a lack of ownership. The demographics are trending towards single person “households”.

When you are looking at the housing needs in any country, you need to think in households. A household in India is far different than one in NYC, than Nebraska. All have different demographics that you need to build for.

The tiny house movement is following the need of a single person household. Someone that wants a private space, but does not want to buy a three bedroom house in the suburbs. They do not want to live in a condo and hear their neighbors arguing. They want a personal space, low maintenance, low costs and the ability to step outside to enjoy a life outside of a box.

Another other issues come to mind. If you have a sleeping loft, you are not going to be able to house the elderly or someone with a disability. This means the size needs to be increased to allow for a single story with a bedroom. The loft would become storage or a guest room.

Having lived in a 8 foot x 20 foot CONEX for many years while working in Iraq, I can personally state, you need 300 square feet to spread out. It can be hard to stay inside when the weather is keeping you in when the room is too small for your mental health.

HIGHER DENSITIES FOR CITIES

An alternative, and what I personally feel needs to be zoned, is an apartment building that has smaller size units. This would allow for the efficient use of the land, and give a single person household their private space. Think of Bruce Willis in “The Fifth Element”.

This trend is starting in San Francisco Bay Area and NYC. I expect these to be a more acceptable building in the coming decades.

I realize these are two different markets. I am just looking at the realities of the modern city and the most efficient use of the limited available land. If you are building in Montana, go for the small lot facing the Rocky Mountains!

Ten months into my walkabout, it is time to head back to work. I am fortunate in life that my skills are in demand. After three weeks, I had several job offers to get back into the game.

The offer I accepted ended my trip but not my travels. I am currently on a flight to San Francisco, California, thirty-thousand feet over the Atlantic in a Boeing 747-400. With some thoughts in my head I broke out my MAC to clear my mind before I get swept up in the flow of events.

The new position is in Afghanistan supporting our troops, most likely the Marines. I needed to get some things cleared up back in the USA before I can ship back out. So, from Europe to the USA, then over to the ‘Stan. Medical checkups, dental cleaning, and some new work clothes along with a winter coat that I know will be needed all too soon.

I lived for ten months out of these three bags. A computer bag; then a small carry-on bag that held a neck pillow, snacks, and my jacket for those long flights; and finally my trusted seabag.

This is a new adventure but a familiar position. I spent six and a half years supporting the troops in Iraq. Now, I get to support them once again. How lucky am I in life?

This will be my third war. From the First Gulf War, then the War in Iraq, and now The War in Afghanistan. That location doesn’t bother me, and the chance to do a little bit for the warriors is welcome. I have a strange ability to live in austere locations or in stressful positions. So, once again, I get the chance to work on computers networks, and work with some great people.

It will take some time to figure out what I learned on my Walkabout. I know some of it is just light hearted, and some was a little deeper. I think I know a little bit more about who I am, for good or bad in life. Although, knowing yourself at a deeper level should be a good thing for the future.

While I may enjoy swimming in the pool in a warm location, I hate living in a place with high humidity. I prefer to live with a change in the seasons. I prefer laughter to yelling. I prefer intimate to crowds. I prefer seeing a woman’s smile to almost anything else in life.

One day soon, I hope you find your way to taking some time off in life. Take that moment that you have been given and just explore as much as you can. Remember that we all have a limited number of seconds. Be conscious of time, don’t try to rush life, savor it. Life shouldn’t be consumed like a cheeseburger, it should be relished. Wait, hold the relish, and just savor the moment!

Share these moments with someone special. If you don’t have someone special, keep searching. While your searching get a pet or a stuffed animal, or a couple of very close friends who you can share your thoughts with.

Never feel small. The world isn’t as big as you think it is. Your soul, your presence, and your laughter are felt by the people around you. You matter to them and you touch them in ways you never know. You really do make a difference to the people around you!

Say hello to strangers. Those chance meetings can be some of your best conversations, and you may find a friend while you share a laugh together. If nothing else, you get to hear someone else’s life story. To be the audience they needed. Listening is a very powerful gift to give to anyone, especially a stranger.

After making a circle around this amazing planet, I know that math, science, money, and power are all dynamic forces. However, the old masters had it right, in the end, only love matters. May love touch your heart.

Note: Copyright unknown. Artist unknown. Please message me if you know who took this excellent shot so I can give credit to him or her!

How Much Do You Need in Life?

While I was working in Iraq, I had the pleasure of reading a few books by John T. Reed ( www.johntreed.com ). He is a very intelligent and articulate writer. In one of his books he questioned his assumptions as a young man on how much money he really needed in life. He was older now and looking back at his path in life. When he started out, he was pushing for greater and greater returns on his real estate deals until he pushed too much. Then he sat down and evaluated what his goals were in life. Some intelligent reading and I recommend his site.

Basically, you may need less than you think. I broke out my spreadsheet and did a Small/Medium/Large set of scenarios across the top. Then on the left side I listed everything you can think of in life. House, car, second car (?), furniture, clothing, maintenance, food per year, utilities, insurance, education, entertainment, etc. After entering in the yearly averages, it really came down to some lifestyle choices and where you wanted to live.

If you want to live in San Francisco or Manhattan, then your fixed costs are much higher than if you want to live in South Dakota. Do you want to drive a BMW X-6 or a used Camry? What you build as a lifestyle will control how many hours you have to work. Do both you and your spouse have to work? Do you actually get to enjoy the house or are you doing 12 hour days with an hour commute? All of these are trade offs, as we would expect.

Florida:

As an extreme example there is this guy. He built a 90,000 sq. ft. home in Florida, and now he can’t afford to finish it:

Obviously, the guy was intelligent enough to build a business, and then insane enough to build a house beyond anything anyone needs in life. Really, why would you build this albatross? I can just see the conversation after they move in:

Wife, “Honey have you seen the kids?”
Husband, “Yes, I saw them in the back yard.”
Wife, “When was that?”
Husband, “Oh, last Tuesday.”

If I had done anything like this, my Father would have rose from the grave to hunt me down and end my life. This was stupid on so many levels; you can’t even try to wrap any logical thoughts around it.

London:

One Cornwall Terrace is on the market for £100 million, the property is the world’s most expensive terraced house.

This property includes seven bedrooms, 11 reception rooms, nine bathrooms, a private gym and a garage.

How Much?

This is a personal choice, and one that you and your partner should decide upon. There are only so many hours in a week, and you can spend them paying for toys, or spend them on the things you enjoy.

I did the long hour routine. Seven days a week, twelve hours a day for months on end. That is a soul draining pace. While it is not fulfilling it does provide a nice paycheck. Looking back, I think fewer hours and more cotton candy are the key to life. Cotton candy will put a smile on your face, while an 84-hour workweek just doesn’t make you a very happy soul. Trust me on this one!

Freedom Anyone?

Do you want to be free in life? Then pay off your bills, build your savings and live like your Grandparents told you. Amazing isn’t it? They actually knew more than we gave them credit for in life.

Look at it this way, you and your family are a business. You have a budget, you have to invest for growth, you have to save for down times, and you need to ensure that the system keeps working in good and bad times. These are the same choices any CEO would make to keep a business on a steady course.

Keep Your Infrastructure or Fixed Costs Low!

You can set up a lifestyle to stand any storm that life can throw at you. Or, you can try to build a lifestyle that is beyond what you really need to be happy. If you live in NYC or San Francisco, you can dump the cars. That will save you approximately $8500 per year per vehicle. That is a lot of BART or subway tokens!

If you need a car, like most of us do in the USA, then get a used one. If you can reduce your fixed costs, then you can handle the setbacks that life will throw your way. If you spend on credit and extend yourself like those paychecks will never end, then life will toss you a curve and your lifestyle will crash and burn.

KISS It!

Make it simple and keep it that way! Find the things that make you happy. I used to love hiking in the Rockies. Nothing Man Versus Nature, just going for a half-day hike in the mountains. Skiing a couple of times a year. Even a long drive is nice. Just keep your life simple and enjoy the peace that comes from not worrying about making that next credit card payment!